


Maybe

by rebiTV



Series: Hotel Hopping [3]
Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Brian's mentioned like once, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed, excessive monologing, real sadboy hours, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 20:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18763288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebiTV/pseuds/rebiTV
Summary: It's late, and Jay and Tim talk. (Can be read as a stand alone)





	Maybe

**Author's Note:**

> That feel when you realize the story you're writing is twice as long as the others in the series :/

It was quiet in the hotel room. Tim wanted to think that it was calm, and not just the calm before the storm. It was a nice thought, unlikely as it was. Jay was looking out the window, forgoing fiddling with twitter or tapes for once. They hadn’t done much today, just settled into their new location, which made the day the best they’d had in a while. 

Tim sat on the bed, fiddling with the hotel remote. He wasn’t really interested in watching TV, but he needed something to do. Maybe he’d been running so long that he’s forgotten how to stay still, he thought. He glanced at Jay, wondering if it was the same for him. Jay turned his head quickly, and Tim realized that he had probably been looking at him before being caught. Tim… didn’t know what to do with that. He guessed he should find it off-putting, but could only seem to find it endearing. He paused, not knowing whether to say something or not, the drone of the TV playing in the background. _Now I’m the one staring._ Tim thought, blushing and turning away.

 _Jesus._ Tim thought, _what are we doing? Playing keep-away?_ He huffed, scooting over on the bed in a silent invitation. He was still looking at the opposite wall when he felt the bed dip with Jay’s weight.

They sat there, watching the TV, as the silence slowly shifted from awkward to companionable. Jay brought his knees up to his chest and rested his head on his forearms, sighing. 

“Hey I-” Jay began, “I’m. I’m glad you’re here, Tim.” He worried his fingers at his knees, bunching up the fabric of his jeans. “You didn’t have to help me, but you did. Thank you.” Jay stared at the floor, not looking at him. Tim could see faint pink under his eyes.

“It’s, well-” Tim started, the words leaving his mouth before he had fully decided on them, “It’s okay. Well I mean- it’s not okay but. I don’t regret it. Coming with you I mean.” _J_ _esus, this is a mess_ Tim thought, cursing his lack of conversational skills. He took a deep breath, trying to think through his words. Jay looked up, peering at him with large eyes.

“I think… when I was living in that town, I didn’t realize it, but I was running away. I told myself things were getting better, that _I_ was getting better but it wasn’t true. When… when I stopped losing time I just pretended it had never happened, but just because my symptoms disappeared didn’t mean I was cured, I just wanted to think I was. I hadn’t heard from Brian in _years_ and I just kept going to work like normal, telling myself that he probably had something going on and if I just waited a little longer he would contact me. I mean _,_ _god_ if Brian was your friend you probably would’ve started looking for him after a week but I just…” Tim shrugged, almost violently “I just pretended everything was fine.” 

Jay was staring at him now, and Tim felt a wave of self-consciousness rush over him. Dammit, now he was blushing. 

Suddenly Jay opened his mouth, managing to look both awkward and determined at the same time. 

“I-I didn’t look at Alex’s tapes for a year!” He exclaimed, “They just sat in the back of my closet for the longest time, I didn’t touch them because I was scared!” He was talking too loud for the words he was saying. “I didn’t even notice he was acting weird until I went to his house to get the tapes. I wasn’t paying attention…” He wrapped his arms around his knees. “It’s not like I was doing anything else, either. I was just… wrapped up in my own head.”

He looked lost, his eyelids cast down. He had gone back to staring at the floor. Suddenly he snorted, looking at the TV but clearly not absorbing any of the information. “Now we’re just having a pity party.” He chuckled, falling back to lie on the bed. 

Tim looked down at him, the change in tone giving him whiplash. Then he smiled. “I think we’ve earned a little self-pity, all things considered.”

Jay smiled back at him, huffing. “Yeah, probably.”

Tim turned towards the TV, actually attempting to watch it for the first time. Some sort of game show was on. He leaned back on his hands, letting the quiet sober the mood. Jay curled towards him, and Tim could feel his fingers brush his hand, just slightly. After a second, Jay took a breath, and said: 

“Maybe Brian’s okay. I mean, just because you haven’t heard from him… maybe something really did come up? You know, something not related to...this.”

Tim tensed, pessimism curling bitter in his gut. “He was working on the movie with us. You saw his house. I doubt he’s not involved. If he’s not dead already, that is.” 

Jay was silent, and Tim worried at his lip. He regretted speaking. It wasn’t like this was Jay’s fault. 

“Maybe we can find him.” Jay continued, softer this time. “We can’t assume he’s dead, but you’re right. He’s definitely involved. Maybe we can help each other.” 

Tim deflated, suddenly feeling exhausted. “We can’t find everyone Jay.”

The silence returned, and suddenly the TV felt like the most irritating thing in the world, so Tim turned it off. 

“I found you.” Jay said. His voice was still soft, but without the drone of the TV, the words seemed to fill the room. “Maybe I’ll be lucky again.” 

Tim felt clogged up, like there was an animal stuck in his lungs. 

“Maybe.” He choked, more than said. He reached to turn the light off, suddenly desperate for sleep, and, almost automatically, his other hand moved to ruffle Jay’s hair. He panicked for a split second, wondering if he had crossed some invisible line. Jay just sighed, settled more comfortably into the bed, his hair brushing against Tim’s fingers.

“It will make more sense tomorrow.” Jay said, his voice slurred with sleep. “We’ll figure it out then.”

“Yeah.” Tim said. “Tomorrow.”    
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone keeping up with this series! I've been having a lot of fun writing it, and I feel like I've learned a lot. More installments coming!


End file.
